TheCable

A leading transportation company in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Abuja Urban Mass Transport Company Limited (AUMTCO), has installed anti-explosive devices in its buses, numbering more than 100.

Speaking on Monday, Mr. Tunde Akintola, head, marketing and communications of the company, said buses that ply various routes within the FCT have the installation, which was done in conjunction with the security department of the FCT administration.

“The company will soon complete the installations in all the 400 buses. We are doing the installations on both the old and the new ones,” he said.

“We are also introducing electronic security devices in all our major loading points such as Nyanya, Zuba, Area 3, Gwagwalada, Kubwa, Lugbe among others.”

He added that out of the 100 high-capacity buses launched recently, 50 had begun operation, while the remaining buses were awaiting registration.

He said the company, which has 25 routes of operations, had spread the new buses according to the routes, in order to augment the existing ones.

“We have assigned 20 buses to Nyanya; 20 to Zuba; five to Bwari; five to Gwagwalada; 10 to Lugbe; 10 to Kubwa; 15 to Life-Camp and 15 for the city centre,” he said.

The fares for the new buses, he explained, would be different from the old ones, because they would run on air conditioners. He described funding as a major challenge of the company, saying fares being charged by AUMTCO were highly subsidised for commuters.

“What we are charging is highly subsidised fares; the lowest fare is N50 and the highest is N150. That is why people prefer to enter our buses,” he said.

“In many cases the drivers make less than what is expected by the company; and from the money we fuel the buses, maintain them, coupled with other expenses and we are not on budget.”